Global Ocean Innovation Challenge Selects Tech Pilots to Advance Marine Conservation in SE Asia

SINGAPORE, May 21, 2026 – A new global initiative aimed at accelerating ocean conservation through emerging technologies is moving into its pilot deployment phase, with selected startups set to test solutions focused on fisheries management and marine protected areas across Southeast Asia.

The Global Ocean Innovation Challenge, launched by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in partnership with innovation platform Newlab, is designed to bridge critical information and technology gaps in marine conservation through startup-led innovation.

The initiative is being rolled out initially in Southeast Asia, a region that hosts more than 70 per cent of the world’s coral reef species and supports the livelihoods and food security of around 120 million people.

The selected pilot projects will focus particularly on Indonesia’s fisheries and marine protected areas (MPAs), working in collaboration with local governments, conservation partners and communities. TNC’s Indonesian partner, Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN), is also playing a central role in the initiative.

According to TNC, the challenge seeks to address growing threats facing marine ecosystems, including overfishing, habitat degradation, biodiversity loss and limited monitoring and enforcement capacity.

The programme comes at a time when ocean ecosystems are increasingly under pressure from climate change, illegal fishing and unsustainable resource extraction, while governments across Asia-Pacific are simultaneously expanding marine conservation targets under global biodiversity frameworks.

TNC said the challenge combines its conservation expertise with Newlab’s experience in building pilot-driven innovation ecosystems capable of scaling technologies in real-world operating environments.

The first phase of the programme focused on identifying priority conservation challenges, conducting field research and selecting pilot locations in collaboration with regional stakeholders. The second phase, taking place through 2026, will see selected technologies deployed and tested across Southeast Asia.

Selected startups participating in the challenge will gain access to pilot funding, infrastructure support, operational datasets and on-ground implementation assistance while co-designing projects with conservation experts and local communities.

Among the key areas of focus are technologies that can improve fisheries monitoring, strengthen marine protected area enforcement, enhance biodiversity tracking and generate real-time environmental intelligence in remote ocean environments.

Artificial intelligence is expected to play an increasingly important role within such initiatives. TNC has already been actively developing AI-enabled monitoring systems aimed at improving fisheries transparency and reducing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities.

In one recent initiative, TNC unveiled an open-source edge AI-powered electronic monitoring system capable of analysing fishing activity directly onboard vessels and flagging potential compliance issues in near real-time. The organisation said the technology could reduce footage review times from months to minutes.

The organisation has also secured funding support through the Bezos Earth Fund AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge to further scale AI-driven fisheries monitoring technologies across the Pacific region.

The broader Global Ocean Innovation Challenge reflects growing momentum around the use of climate-tech, AI and data-driven tools in biodiversity conservation and ocean management.

Globally, investors and governments are increasingly backing nature-tech and ocean-tech startups as biodiversity protection becomes more deeply linked with climate transition strategies, blue economy investments and sustainable food systems.

The challenge will culminate in a global showcase and consolidated report highlighting pilot outcomes, lessons learned and opportunities for scaling successful technologies across TNC’s broader global ocean programmes.